E-mail is by far the most widely used service on the Internet. Tens of thousands of people ONLY have e-mail- with no access to web sites and/or no desire to surf the web. With that kind of market, how can one safely and effectively use e-mail for networking online? Try these 15 successful methods for e-mail marketing:

1. JOIN discussion lists, subscribe to newsletters and ezines, and Usenet Newsgroups. Offering assistance and know-how on a particular subject, or asking for help will begin the "know, like and trust you" part of the networking process.

2. INTRODUCTIONS. Determine the Introduction policy of each forum and send out an introduction about you and your firm. Include info on who you are, what you do, and what kind of clients you are looking for.

3. SIGNATURE FILES. With each request for help, answer to a question, introduction, or other e-mail correspondence , include a signature file where it is appropriate. I do participate on lists where no one uses a sig file, so make sure that you follow the list protocol when using sig files.

4. AUTORESPONDERS. By far, this is one of the most successful networking tools. Autoresponders automatically send out info from a simple e-mail request sent to it. They can be used for so many things, including:

• Promotional Material
• Product/Service Information
• Hiring Help
• Training Help
• Article Distribution

...and so much more..

5. ADS. E-mail cannot be used to send ads to folks who have not requested the information. However, you can run ads in various e-mail forums, ezines, and newsletters. Be very sure to check forum protocol on this usage.

6. PRODUCT DELIVERY. There are many firms that can actually deliver their product via e-mail. Consultants, software companies, authors/writers, and trainers can transport their product and service via e-mail, cutting down costs significantly.

7. FOLLOW-UP. Timely up-dates etc., greetings (like Thanksgiving Day) or in some cases, general information can be distributed via e-mail. Follow up is something done with existing clients or persons who have expressed an interest in future contact. It isn't follow up if there has been no previous request for information.

8. CUSTOMER SERVICE. Being able to reply quickly and efficiently to customer request, questions and complaints is an extremely valuable networking tool .

9.NEWSLETTERS AND ARTICLES. One of the most important tools available to establishing credibility is the use of articles you have personally written. Submission of those articles to targeted newsletters and ezines is quite effective. Once you have enough material, you can even start your own newsletter.

10. PRESS RELEASES. Many editors for both online and offline publications prefer to get press releases via e-mail. As with all other forums, it is necessary to ascertain that the editor does indeed want releases via e-mail.

11. MODERATING/GUEST MODERATING. Most really useful e-mail lists and newsgroups are moderated, meaning there is a person who is responsible for keeping the group on track, preventing the wrong type of messages from appearing on the list. You can start your own moderated group, or you can volunteer to Guest Moderate a group you are comfortable handling.

12. CONTESTS. You can use e-mail to announce, run, and promote a contest. Again, be sure to check the forum policy on contests before posting any kind of announcement, etc. to that forum.

13. RESEARCH. E-mail is a powerful research tool. It is very easy to send requests for information useful to you via e-mail.

14. ORGANIZATION. E-mail can keep you organized and productive. Through the use of Filters (mechanisms in your e-mail program that automatically sort your mail for you) and a set of Masters (e-mail messages already written that you can send in response to frequently asked questions or commonly requested information) , you will find that you can handle hundreds of e-mail transactions in just a few hours a day.

15. PERSONAL EMAIL. It is through your personal correspondences, that you will really get to know people, and they, you. It is not only possible to "read" people via e-mail, (and therefore get to know, like and trust them), but is almost impossible NOT to be able to do so, as long as you are aware of personality styles.

E-mail is so productive, so useful, and so efficient, that I have often wondered why I need a web site at all. It appears lots of other folks feel the same way.

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